Boredom
by stargate6525
Summary: Harvey and Jessica are meeting with a couple of potential clients - whom Mike seems to know? Crossover with Lie to Me.
1. Chapter 1

Harvey sat down at the table in Jessica's office. He and Jessica were currently trying to sway a new possible client. The man was supposedly some kind of a lie detection expert, he and his partner ran their own company and consulted for numerous important people including the government. They also made boo coo money and they didn't have appropriate council.

Harvey had told Mike that he wasn't needed however he had just texted the kid because he had left an important file in his office so Mike should be coming any second. The clients had actually shown up early, the man having brought his teenage daughter in tow.

Harvey heard a knock on the office door and turned to get the file from his associate before dismissing him.

"Here's the file…" Mike said before taking in who else was in the room. He dropped his conversation with Harvey and turned to glare at the other man in the room. "What are you doing here?" he asked cooly.

"Mr. Ross" Jessica said, annoyance evident in her tone.

The others in the room didn't seem phased though.

"We're looking at Pearson Hardman to be our lawyers" the woman answered.

Mike looked over to the woman and his expression softened some, "Why do you need a lawyer?" he asked, "Did Cal finally piss off the feds so much that he's being sued?"

"Mike" Harvey admonished. He could see Jessica glaring at the associate who was currently tuning the both of them out in favor of talking with the hopeful clients. The clients that he apparently knew.

"No, but a high ranking attorney from the DA's office did give it their best shot after I called him on sleeping with his boss' secretary in order to gain access to the information needed to blackmail the man" The hopeful client, Cal apparently, responded.

Mike shook his head and was about to respond before the woman cut in, "We think that it's time to have a lawyer on retainer for when problems arise"

"You know if you just got rid of him" Mike he jerked his head at Cal, "Then you wouldn't need a lawyer on retainer either"

Suddenly the man's daughter started laughing, "True but Dad would still need one" she said.

Mike turned to her and Harvey could see his mood lightening.

"Yeah but that could be solved if he just learned some basic social rules" Mike smirked.

"Pshtt, Like that's ever going to happen" The girl scoffed.

"You never know they could come up with some type of nero surgery" Mike replied.

"And you think he'd agree to it" the girl laughed shaking her head.

Mike shrugged, "There is always chloroform in a pinch"

Both of them laughed at that as if sharing in some inside joke. The woman smirked and shook her head and Cal looked as though this was a natural occurrence.

The room dropped into a calm silence after and Jessica, who had been silently fuming since Mike had snapped at Cal, decided now would be a good time to get things back on track, "Mr. Ross, I suggest that you head back to your desk I want to talk to you once we are through here" she said.

"Oh, relax" Cal said to Jessica.

"Mike has every right to be a little… on edge with Cal at the moment" the woman said.

Mike sighed, "Still, this is not the place"

"Really because if I were you I would have punched him" the girl said.

"Thought that would be overkill" Mike replied.

"Well I appreciate that" Cal said.

Mike stiffened but didn't reply. "How about we get back on topic" Harvey suggested trying to get Jessica's focus off of Mike for the time being.

"Agreed" the woman said.

"And how long is this going to take?" the girl asked.

"What's the matter Em? Bored?" Mike asked cockily.

Em? Or Emily? Shot Mike a playful glare, "You'd be one to talk. Didn't you set fire to Dad's office last time you were bored?"

"That was an accident!" Mike defended quickly, "And the fire was solely contained to the coffee table. Which I fixed"

The woman and Emily were laughing and Harvey couldn't believe what he'd just heard. "You set fire to a coffee table because you were bored?"

Mike turned to Harvey, "No. The device I was working on short circuited and it caught on fire which then spread to the coffee table"

"The fire grew quickly too" Cal added.

"I put it out" Mike said quickly.

"Yes, the entire table was covered in fire extinguisher foam" the woman said trying to hold in her laughter.

Mike smirked there too, "Yeah, that stuff came out really quickly didn't it?"

Harvey looked over at Jessica and could see that she wasn't exactly – pleased, might be an understatement. Trying to at least delay the inevitable blow up he decided to try and get things back on track once again. "So… What is it that you are looking for in a lawyer exactly?" he asked.

"Oh come on Jillian get Dad to let us go" Emily pleaded.

The woman, Jillian, gave Cal/Dad a look as though to say that she agreed with Emily. Cal sighed and then reached for his wallet.

"Alright, listen up you two" Cal said pulling out some cash from his wallet. "Take this and go to the museum three blocks over. I will call you when this is over and then we'll get lunch."

Mike moved forward to take the cash but Cal held it out of reach, "Do not try any of your experiments. Do not play games or set a trap. Behave" he commanded.

"Yeah, Yeah" Both Mike and Emily said together as Mike took the cash and they started heading out of the office.

"Behave!" Cal called as the door shut.

Harvey watched Mike leave and debated on calling him back and sending him back to work. One look at Jessica though and he figured it might be better to just let the kid go and talk to him later, give Jessica time to cool off and maybe have some more facts first. Yeah, that might be best.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

In the end, Harvey and Jessica had landed the client. Of course, that was entirely due to Mike, seeing as how, as soon as the two left the room, both Cal and Jillian had agreed. Jessica had let Mike off the hook since it was because of him that they'd gotten one of the most desired clients around. Still, Harvey had kept Mike out of any further meetings with the clients and apart from Jessica for the time being.

They'd been working with the new clients for around three months now and every time that they had an appointment with them, Harvey would either give Mike the day off, or send him away on some extremely long errand.

Today, Harvey and Jessica were to meet with Cal and Jillian, so Harvey had given Mike the day off. At the last minute, the meeting was changed to their offices.

"Hello, thank you for coming," Jillian greeted them as they walked in the front door. Harvey couldn't help but think that the place was a bit weird. Not long after walking in, there was a wall full of pictures of random and well-known people of all cultures, genders, and races, and he couldn't quite tell what was the point.

"It was no problem," Jessica assured Jillian as they followed her down the halls to her office.

"You can just take a seat," Jillian said, gesturing into the room.

Harvey walked through the door and paused. There, sitting on the floor in front of the couch and behind the coffee table, was none other than his associate.

"So, this is why you gave me the day off?" Mike asked without even looking up from what he was doing.

Harvey had to wonder for a moment how Mike knew who it was that entered the room without looking first, but Jillian didn't seem fazed by it at all. "Wanted to avoid any problems," he shrugged it off as he took a seat in one of the two chairs in front of the desk.

Jessica took the other seat, before Jillian walked over. "So, let's get started, shall we?" she said, sitting in her chair and focusing on the two of them.

Jessica looked over her shoulder at Mike still sitting there fiddling with something. "Should we find a more… private location?"

Harvey noticed Mike rolling his eyes as Jillian smiled. "We're fine discussing this in front of Mike. It's nothing he won't find out about later anyway, if he doesn't know already," she said, waving off Jessica's concern.

"Very well, then," Jessica agreed.

The three of them were working for a little over an hour when Jillian paused in their conversation to talk to Mike. "Where are you planning on running that?"

Harvey turned around to notice that Mike had apparently finished what he was doing and cleaned up. The only things left on the coffee table was a remote control car and what looked to be a black rod.

Mike looked over at Jillian. "I was going to take it outside to the quad."

"No," was the instant reply.

Mike shot her a confused look. "Why not?"

"Because the last time you tried that thing in the quad, you ended up causing the hot dog cart to flood."

"That was an accident!" Mike quickly defended. "Some jerk shoved it under there because I accidentally hit his foot. How was I supposed to know that the chemicals in the car wouldn't mix well with the chemicals in the hot dog cart and cause the water to boil over and flood the thing?"

"That's not the point. We don't need a repeat occurrence."

"Remote control cars don't have chemicals," Harvey interjected.

Mike rolled his eyes. "This isn't a regular remote control car."

"Pick someplace else," Jillian instructed.

"The parking garage?" Mike offered.

Jillian shook her head. "I don't even want to imagine what kind of damage you could do to all of those cars."

"You know, it's not fair to just assume that something bad is going to happen. It doesn't bode well for my confidence."

Jillian shot Mike a slight glare. "Don't even try that again."

Mike shrugged. "The halls then," he smiled knowingly.

Jillian scoffed, "Absolutely not. The last time I let you try out one of your experiments in the hall, it ended with you needing fifteen stitches."

"Again, that was an accident," Mike was quick to defend.

"Doesn't matter," Jillian cut off any further excuses.

"Cal agreed with me that it wasn't my fault!"

Jillian just shook her head and looked at Mike as though that were one of the dumbest reasons he could have ever come up with. "That is completely beside the point. Besides, shouldn't you be with Cal working?"

Mike rolled his eyes. "He's at Fort Bennet," he said in an exasperated tone.

Jillian closed her eyes for a second, before collecting herself and turning back to Mike. "Alright. I'll take you there after Loker and I get back."

"Why can't he go there on his own?" Harvey asked. This whole conversation was confusing the hell out of him. How did Mike know these people? What did they let him get up to? Why was Mike never like this at the office (though really, Harvey wasn't complaining) and what was wrong with Mike going with Cal to Fort Bennet?

"That is a long and complicated story," Jillian said in a tired and slightly annoyed tone, while shooting Mike a glare.

"It was the other guy's fault," Mike grumbled.

"We're not getting into this right now," Jillian stated.

"Fine," Mike sighed. "Now, where can I go and run this?" he asked, holding up his remote control car.

"The roof."

"Great!" Mike smiled, jumping up and grabbing both the car and the black rod. "Oh," he paused at the door, turning back around, "How long do I have before we leave for the stadium?"

Jillian shot him a confused look. "I'll take you to Fort Bennet after I drop Loker back here."

Mike gave her a hopeful look. "I thought that I might go with?"

Jillian stared Mike down for a few minutes, and Harvey could have sworn that they were having some sort of a silent conversation, though he couldn't make heads or tails as to what was being said. Eventually, Jillian sighed in defeat, "Alright, be back here in thirty minutes."

"Yes!" Mike cheered, pumping his fist in the air before running out of the room.

Once Mike was gone, Jillian turned back to Harvey and Jessica. "Sorry about that."

"It's… no problem," Harvey said as he shot a glance over to Jessica, only to notice that she was still a little stunned and confused as to all that she'd just heard. He couldn't help but wonder what exactly it was that they did here and how Mike, the world's worst liar, fit into all of it. Harvey ended up leaving that meeting with more questions than he'd come in with.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Before Harvey and Jessica left, Jillian Foster had thanked them.

She had thanked them because Mike had started coming around again, because Mike was talking to them again. Apparently, Mike and Cal Lightman had some sort of a falling out and the kid had stopped coming around. A month later, Mike had met Harvey. Four months after that, Harvey and Jessica had met Cal and Jillian. Three weeks later, Mike stepped back into the Lightman Group offices and back into their lives.

Jillian had said that she couldn't be more grateful to them.

Cal had called later that day and thanked them as well. He had also asked a favor. Cal's daughter's school was planning work experiences for their students for two weeks. They were sending five students to different offices and jobs. Emily's group was supposed to go to a local law firm, but the firm had backed out, and Cal was hoping that Pearson Hardman would consider taking the five students. In return, Cal had agreed to give the five associates who take the students as well as ten senior and junior partners for two weeks to teach them what it is that the Lightman Group does. Jessica had agreed - anything for one of her best clients.

Harvey watched as Mike walked into his office the next morning. The kid was standing straight with his messenger bag hanging over his shoulder and a-a… basketball under his left arm?

As usual, Mike barged in without knocking. "You know, if you didn't want me around during your meetings then all you had to do was tell me."

Harvey sighed, "I just didn't want an issue with Jessica. You didn't exactly make the best impression the first time."

Mike dropped down on the couch and started tossing the basketball between his hands. "Still learn everything, you know."

"Yes, and how do you know Mr. Lightman and Mrs. Foster exactly?" Jessica asked as she entered the office.

Mike sat up straighter and placed the basketball to the side. "They're old friends."

"Friends?" Harvey stared him down.

Mike shrugged as he stood up. "I picked this up for you," he said, tossing the basketball at Harvey, taking the stack of files on his desk, and heading out.

"What's that?" Jessica wondered.

Harvey looked down at the basketball and saw that it was signed - by Carmelo Anthony! How the hell had Mike pulled that off? "Uh… it's… a signed basketball."

"Signed by who?"

"Carmelo Anthony," he breathed as he stared at it in awe.

"How did he…"

"No idea."

The two of them stayed there in stunned silence for a few moments more, before moving on and putting the mystery to the side for the moment.

Over the rest of the week Harvey pestered Mike constantly as to how he got the basketball, what it is that the Lightman group did, how he knew Cal and Jillian, what it was that he got into exactly? Mike, though, refused to answer anything and actually side-stepped the questions surprisingly well. Harvey just didn't understand. Nothing added up and it was driving him crazy.

Harvey sighed as he stepped out of Ray's car. He still had no answers and he wanted them. There was very little that he wasn't able to find out – mainly due to Donna, but even she hadn't learned Mike's secrets.

He looked over as he heard Mike's voice a little ways down and he assumed that the kid was talking to someone while locking his bike; he was wrong. Mike was getting out of the backseat of a car - Cal's car - and then he held the door open and out came Cal's daughter, Emily. Well, this would be interesting.

Harvey waited as both Mike and Emily leaned towards the front, passenger window and listened, before both simultaneously rolled their eyes and started walking towards the building.

As soon as the car was gone, Harvey headed over. "Hello," he greeted, offering his hand to Emily.

"Hi," she replied, returning the gesture.

"So, I take it that you're my associate's shadow for the next two weeks?"

"Subtle, Harvey. I'm sure Jessica will approve of calling the daughter of her top new client a 'shadow,'" Mike jested as he guided Emily past the security desk and towards the elevator.

"I'm just making polite conversation," Harvey responded.

"Well, I can tell that you two get along wonderfully," Emily smirked.

Harvey shook his head as he separated from them and headed towards his office. The rest of the next two weeks went by slowly, no big upsets, work was done and cases were won as normal. There were, however, some interesting developments in the bullpen.

It started with small things - someone's desk is rearranged so that they can't find what they need. Then it was someone's keyboard getting covered in glue, someone's computer sending out insulting messages to the other associates even though said person didn't send them. As they turned into the second week, it became someone's lunch turning their teeth orange, someone's chair breaking into pieces in the middle of the day (a truly surprising one seeing as the person had been sitting there for over an hour and it just happened to break the second that Louis and Jessica were walking by). The latest and most problematic, however, was the sudden offshoot of mini rockets that had been going off at different intervals all day from all over the room.

Naturally, every associate had been questioned and IT had been assigned to locate the computer hacker that sent the messages. However, nothing had come up.

Harvey prided himself in being able to read people and yet he couldn't find guilt in any associate. Yes, Mike had been a suspect, especially considering the lovely stories he'd heard while they were at the Lightman Group. However, Mike had checked out.

Harvey always knew when Mike was lying - the kid was awful at it - and Mike wasn't lying when he had denied pulling the pranks. Even Jessica hadn't gotten anything out of the associates and, as much as he hated to admit it, she was better at reading people than he was. Harvey had learned from Jessica and he was currently trying – aka failing – to teach Mike the same skill.

Harvey couldn't help but sigh in relief when he watched the associates and students head out for the day. It was the last day of the students being there, and he hoped that all of these lovely 'pranks' were leaving with them.

Every associate had been allowed to leave early today. When Cal had been informed, he had asked that Harvey and Jessica take Emily home, since he needed to meet with them anyways. Cal had also asked that Mike come along, which was semi-confusing, but still - what the client wants, the client gets. Thus, right now, Harvey was sitting in the back seat of Jessica's car across from Mike and Emily.

Mike was sitting quietly, looking out the window, while Jessica was trying to - subtly - suggest to Emily that she shouldn't mention the 'colorful' events that had occurred over the last two weeks. Emily had been rather agreeable to keep her mouth shut, much to their relief.

The second they were all out of the car, Mike and Emily headed straight for the door. To Harvey's surprise, Mike was the one that pulled out the key and opened the front door to let them all in. The two of them were up the stairs before Harvey even had time to shut the door.

"Did I miss something?" Harvey questioned as he turned to Jessica.

Jessica shook her head as she looked around the spacious, yet empty, entryway. "How does your associate know Mr. Lightman?"

"He said they're old friends."

Jessica raised her eyebrow. "I'd say they're more than friends."

"I want the cake," Emily demanded as she and Mike came barreling down the stairs.

"We had the cake on Monday," Mike argued.

Emily rolled her eyes as she followed Mike towards what Harvey assumed to be the kitchen. "I know that, but I still…"

"Want cake. I know, I know," Mike cut her off.

"Well, so long as you know," Emily stated, turning abruptly and heading out of the kitchen towards Harvey and Jessica. "So, my Dad should be home soon. You're welcome to have a seat, if you'd like."

"Thank you. That would be fine," Jessica said politely as she took a seat at the dining room table and gestured for Harvey to do the same.

Not more than thirty minutes later, Cal was coming through the door. "Sorry, it took so long. Unexpected visitor popped by, had to take care of it," he apologized as he set his things down and headed into the kitchen.

Cal's first stop was to Emily.. "Have a good day?" he asked as he kissed her on the forehead.

"Yeah, it was fun," Emily answered, before turning as Mike came through the door carrying plates and silverware.

"Here, take these," Mike instructed as he handed off the items and then turned back into the kitchen.

Cal rolled his eyes, before following Mike back into the kitchen. He came back a few minutes later. "Alright, supper's almost ready and then we can get started," he said as he set cups down on the table and going back into the kitchen.

A few moments later, Cal and Mike came back carrying different dishes. Once everything was on the table, they all sat down to eat. The food looked good, Chicken Parmesan, Spaghetti, Garlic bread and a salad.

"There's cake for desert," Emily said happily as she started serving herself.

"No, there's not," Cal corrected.

Emily frowned and shot a dirty look at Mike. "You said you'd make the cake."

Mike smirked, "No. I said that I knew you wanted cake; I never said I'd make it."

"I knew it was too good to be true," Emily grumbled.

"If something seems too good to be true, it's best to shoot it just in case," Mike quipped.

Suddenly, Mike jumped. "Ow," he complained.

"Emily," Cal admonished.

"He tricked me" Emily exclaimed, pointing an indignant finger at Mike.

"That's no reason to kick me," Mike argued.

"Enough!" Cal cut in, abruptly ending the conversation.

Harvey watched the interaction in amusement; it really was interesting to watch Mike now. At work, the kid was energetic and he would give as good as he got with Harvey, but he was so much more relaxed here, more himself. It was a different sight and a different feel.

The food came around and Harvey and Jessica served themselves. It was strange, having dinner with a client. No one else seemed to have any hesitations though, so Harvey let it be. Taking his first bite, however, he quickly became extremely appreciative that he was eating here. "This is excellent," he complimented.

"It would have been better with the cake," Emily grumbled.

"Oh, will you let it be?" Mike sighed in annoyance.

Cal just shook his head. "We had the cake already this week, we don't need it every day. Besides, you like everything he makes."

"But I like the cake the best," Emily insisted.

"If you like it so much then why not try to make it yourself?" Mike queried.

Emily just rolled her eyes, "I have tried"

"When?" Mike asked confused.

"It was while you were gone" Emily shrugged.

"Yes, she almost burnt down the kitchen" Cal shook his head.

Mike started snickering, trying not to laugh but failing miserably. "Isn't that why you insisted we take turns making dinner, so that she'd learn to cook?" he asked Cal.

"Hey! I'm not that bad, that was the first time" Emily defended herself.

"The first time trying to make the cake, not the first time catching the oven on fire" Mike retorted.

"It was an accident!" Emily insisted, "How was I supposed to know you had to take the pizza off of the cardboard before putting it in the oven?"

"Oh yes how indeed?" Mike prodded her.

"Wait. You made this Mike?" Harvey cut in shocked, stopping what probably promised to be a rather long argument between Mike and Emily.

Mike just shrugged, before turning back to his plate. Harvey sent curious glances to both Cal and Emily, who seemed familiar with Mike's cooking, but neither of them were offering anything.

Once the table had quieted down and everyone was just about finished eating, Jessica decided to speak up, "So, Mr. Lightman, what is it that you needed to talk to us about?"

Cal looked up at Jessica. "Oh. Right." He sighed, before he started, "I have to be an expert witness in a trial and…"

Suddenly, both Mike and Emily burst out laughing, practically choking on their food. "Can I be there?" Emily asked as soon as she got herself back under control.

"No," Cal stated.

"Don't worry, Em. I'll tape it for you" Mike assured her.

"No, you will not," Cal ordered.

Mike just shook his head. "Oh, this will be priceless."

"When is it? Is it on a weekend?" Emily questioned excitedly.

Cal narrowed his eyes. "Neither one of you will be there, weekend or not."

"I work for the firm," Mike stated smugly, "I have every right to be there."

"Mike," Harvey admonished.

"No, really, Harvey. You'll want to see this. It'll be hilarious," Mike laughed.

"Dishes," Cal ordered, cutting off Mike and Emily from their banter.

"It's Emily's turn," Mike quickly responded.

Emily sighed, before starting to stand up and clear the table.

"You can help," Cal told Mike.

"I cooked," Mike argued.

"Yet you're going to help with the dishes anyway," Cal responded.

"But.." Mike started to argue, but he was cut off with a mere look from Cal.

Harvey watched, as the two seemed to hold some sort of a silent conversation. He wished that he understood what the two of them were saying. It annoyed him that he could read people so well and yet he couldn't decipher what was being said right in front of him.

Soon enough, Mike huffed, before pushing back and joining Emily in the kitchen. As soon as they were gone, Cal turned to Harvey and Jessica, and the three of them got to work. Apparently, Jillian thought that Cal could benefit from being prepped for the witness-stand since his last experience hadn't gone so well.

They had been working for about half an hour, before Mike and Emily came racing out of the kitchen past them, and into the living room where they each grabbed for a controller and turned on a game. Harvey just watched in awe as he took in Mike. At work, Mike looked a little younger than the other associates, but he still fit in. Now, sitting on the couch playing video games, barefoot and dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, Mike looked like a teenager who would should still be in high school. Mike was so much more open and relaxed, his entire demeanour was different, and Harvey couldn't help but wonder what had caused it.

They worked for a couple more hours before Cal took a quick break and went into the living room to talk to Mike and Emily. A few minutes later, both of the children shut off their game and headed upstairs.

As the hours dragged on, Harvey learned why Mike and Emily had started cracking up when they heard that Cal was going to be a witness; the man was impossible.

It was almost as though he was trying to do and say everything he could to make himself look like an asshole, and it was taking a lot of time to convince him that it wasn't always the best idea to insult the judge, regardless of how incompetent they may be. Harvey was nearly at his wits end and he could tell that Jessica was irritated as well.

Harvey was just starting in on another question when Mike came wandering down the stairs dressed in sleep pants, a t-shirt and barefoot. He wiped his hand over his face as he headed into the kitchen.

Cal had watched Mike with concern and had pulled a chair out and placed it next to him as though he knew what was going to happen. Mike came back seconds later with a water in his hand. He plopped himself down in the chair that Cal had pulled out and leaned over so that the majority of his weight was on Cal and his head was resting on Cal's shoulder.

Harvey watched Mike curiously. He seemed out of it, as though he wasn't completely aware of where he was. Harvey doubted that Mike even knew that he and Jessica were in the room as he watched the kid curl further into Cal, and he couldn't help but wonder what had happened.

Jessica had offered to leave and pick this up in the morning, but Cal had declined as he had wrapped his arm around Mike's shoulders and pulled the boy closer. They had spent a further two and a half hours, before they were comfortable believing that they had done everything they could for the time being. However, Harvey had a feeling that it still wasn't going to go well.

As they left the house, Harvey couldn't help but feel that he had nothing but questions, and he wondered if the following two weeks at the Lightman Group offices would bring answers or even more questions.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The weekend had gone by almost uneventfully. Saturday was calm and relaxing for Harvey - he worked some and then brought a woman home that night. Sunday though, Mike called Harvey to make sure that he was awake, before banging on his door until he opened. Mike had burst in, full of energy, and dragged Harvey down to the courthouse to watch Cal's testimony.

By the end of it, Harvey fully understood why Cal was horrible on the stand. Harvey had to work to the best of his abilities not to burst out laughing, but a small grin did happen to sneak onto his face once… maybe twice. Right before Cal's testimony was over, Mike had bolted from the courtroom. Harvey looked up to see Cal, with a rather unpleasant look, follow Mike out. By the time Harvey was out of the room, Mike and Cal had already left.

On Monday, Harvey found himself standing outside the Lightman Group offices bright and early. Jessica had wanted to talk to everyone who would be participating before it started, so had requested that they meet before the place opens.

There were a group of fourteen of them standing around in the cold. Jessica walked over a few moments later. "Someone should be arriving any minute to let us in."

Harvey nodded his head and looked around. He still hadn't seen Mike yet and was starting to get a bit concerned. The kid was still on thin ice with Jessica, despite having been the reason that they got the Lightman Group as a client and that Mike hadn't caused any other upsets with them. Jessica had actually almost forgiven the kid, only to have the last two weeks cause a slight set back. Despite the lack of evidence pointing as Mike being the culprit, Jessica still had a dislike for him. Mike being late wouldn't help any.

They all stood out there for another ten minutes before Jillian came walking up, semi-surprisingly, with Mike in tow.

Jillian walked right up to Jessica, while Mike went to the door of the building and pulled out his keys.

Harvey looked over at Jessica and Jillian, before walking over to Mike. "So, how do you have a key to this place?"

Mike didn't respond. Instead, he opened the door and went straight to the reception desk and started searching around. Mike stood up a moment later with a small, white square in his hand, fiddling with it. Seconds later, music started playing in the lobby.

"Really?" Jillian said in exasperation as she came into the lobby followed by everyone else.

"I had to drown out the torture you inflicted upon me," Mike responded.

Jillian rolled her eyes. "It was not torture."

"Partridge family again?" Cal questioned as he walked in.

"She was trying to brain wash me with it!" Mike exclaimed.

"Oh will you let it be already?" Jillian sighed. "I was not trying to torture you or brain wash you. I just thought that you could benefit from listening to something other than country all day."

"That will **never** be beneficial," Mike insisted as he hopped back over the desk.

"Mike," Harvey admonished. Really? The kid was climbing over the furniture and no one was saying anything.

Mike just shrugged in response.

"Alright, lets get started," Jessica said, trying to get things in some semblance of structure. Mike really wasn't helping himself.

It was twenty minutes into Jessica's speech before there was a shocked cry from down the hall. Everyone paused as they watched an angry woman come storming down the hall.

Harvey barely heard Mike whisper, "Not good," before the kid bolted.

"Hey!" the woman called, chasing after Mike.

Mike made it all the way to the end of the hall before some man stopped him. "Whoa," the man said, catching Mike. "What's up?"

Mike managed to wriggle himself out of the man's grip and hide behind him before the woman caught up. "Hand him over, Loker," the woman ordered.

The man, Loker, looked a bit surprised. "Why?" he asked cautiously.

"I didn't do it," Mike stated, before the woman could respond.

"Who else could have?" the woman questioned.

"What's going on?" Cal asked, coming onto the scene.

"What's going on?" the woman repeated. "He crashed his new 'toy' into my car!"

"I didn't!" Mike insisted.

"What do you have to say about this?" Cal asked, turning to Loker.

"Um…" Loker hesitated.

"Wait." The woman turned to Loker. "You did it?"

"Well…" Loker paused.

Mike jerked himself around from behind Loker to look him in the eye. "You crashed my car!"

"I was just trying it out," Loker tried to defend, "As soon as it happened, I started searching for Torres."

The woman - Torres, Harvey guessed - looked mutinous and was clearly about to start screaming, before Cal stepped in and cut her off. "Alright. Here's what's going to happen. Loker – You are going to go with Torres and Reynolds-" Harvey had no idea who that was, "-And take pictures and a statement. After that, the three of you will get Torres' car towed to the body shop of her choice and you will pay for whatever damages you caused."

"What about my car?!" Mike interrupted.

Cal sighed while shooting Mike a pointed look. "I'm getting to that! Loker, once you are done at the body shop, you will then take Mike to the junk yard and replace the car."

Loker sighed and hung his head. "Yeah. Come on, Torres. let's go hunt down Reynolds."

As the two turned to walk off, Torres took the opportunity to punch Loker in the arm. "Oi!" Cal lightly admonished. "Torres, play nice."

"I make no promises," Torres called as she walked off.

"You," Cal returned his focus on Mike, "What are you doing standing out here?"

Mike rolled his eyes. "I'm listening to a speech."

Cal looked over at the group standing around watching the show. "Right. Well." He shook his head. "Yeah, that's not going to end well. Go find something else to do."

Mike smiled, "Gladly."

Mike quickly started to head down the hall heading off to do who knows what, but from the stories Harvey had heard so far he didn't think it would be good, so he stopped him. "He's supposed to be paying attention to the speech."

Cal looked over. "He's bored. Your speech is about how to 'behave' while here and what it is that you will be doing, right?"

"Yes, it is," Jessica confirmed.

"Yeah, none of that applies to him," Cal said.

"What do you mean?" Jessica asked, confused.

"All of your employees are here to learn about what we do, they'll each be shadowing one of our people after having taken a quick introductory test."

"Yes," Jessica agreed.

Cal just tilted to the side a bit. "Right, well, Mike needs none of that."

"Are you kidding?" Harvey scoffed. "Mike is the worst liar I know. He needs this more than anyone."

Cal walked right up to Harvey, getting a little too close for comfort. "He's the worst liar you know?"

"Yes. He's horrible at it."

"And how is he on reading people?" Cal questioned.

Harvey was confused. shouldn't this man know? "Awful."

Cal just shook his head, before turning to Mike who up until this point had remained silently standing next to Harvey. "Why are you playing these people?"

Harvey jerked his head around to Mike, along with everyone else in the group. "Playing us?" he queried.

Mike looked between Harvey and Cal as though he were debating something, before finally sighing.

Harvey was amazed as he actually watched Mike change. Mike was usually such an innocent looking kid, as though he were naive and an open book. As soon as Mike accepted that he'd been made, though, the kid finally showed his true face. Mike had slumped a bit, relaxing against the welcome desk. He crossed his arms over his chest, his facial expressions becoming harder, less innocent and more world-weary. This was closer to the real Mike. The one thing that really stuck out to Harvey though was his eyes. Mike's eyes were usually innocent and open, but now… Well… now Mike's eyes had an edge to them, as though he had seen more than his years should allow - as though they had scars all on their own.

Mike just shrugged. "It was amusing."

"Amusing?" Cal asked.

"I had to do something to amuse myself," Mike defended, "It's not as though I can stop working whenever a new idea pops into my head."

"You were playing me," Harvey finally realized.

Mike turned to Harvey. "Look, it was nothing personal. I just needed some way to keep myself occupied."

"Well, it was a crap way," Cal told him. "Honestly, after everything we've said on not hiding yourself and you decide the best way to start a new job, a new life, was with a con."

Mike just glared at Cal. "Yes, because showing myself worked out so well for me," he hissed.

Cal stepped back and Harvey could tell that the man felt guilty about whatever it was Mike was referring to, but he didn't respond.

Everything was silent for a few moments, before Mike stormed off. Harvey watched the kid go and couldn't help but wonder how the rest of the next two weeks were going to go, given the wonderful start they'd had.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Harvey was speechless for a few moments after Mike left and completely missed the end of Jessica's speech. He also missed one of the Lightman Group employees informing them what they were able to do next. Thus, when he was moved to a different room and placed in front of a touch screen with a person's face on it and a button at the bottom that said GO, Harvey looked around as the others all started to tap the screen, pause to watch and then tap it again, before repeating the process, but he had no clue what it was that he was to actually be doing.

"You're supposed to tell what emotion they display," Mike's informed him.

Harvey looked over and was a bit startled to see that Mike was standing to his right; He hadn't even noticed the kid when he'd been placed at the terminal. Mike was doing like everyone else in the room, only faster.

"They aren't showing any emotion," Harvey informed the kid.

Mike just rolled his eyes. "They will when you hit GO."

"Of course."

With that, Harvey got to work. He didn't do as well as he'd hoped though, only scoring about a sixty percent. When Harvey was finished, he looked over to notice that Mike was still going.

"Having a hard time?" he questioned.

Mike shot Harvey a look of disbelief. "Did we not just discuss the fact that I've been playing you this whole time a bit over two hours ago?"

Ah… Well, yes, they had, but it was still hard to wrap his head around. Still, though, "Then why is it taking you so long?"

"Because I don't have a stopping point."

"Everyone has a stopping point?" Harvey looked around. Only two or three were still working at their screens.

"I'm not taking the test."

"You're doing the same thing everyone else is."

Mike stopped what he was doing and turned to Harvey. "I came down here to do something monotonous and clear my head, not to take a test. What you and everyone else are doing is watching facial expressions that occur at a tenth of a second, which is the average speed. However, I am doing it at a twentieth of a second – just for a slight challenge," Mike then leaned over to take a look at Harvey's score, before smirking, "And unlike you, I got a perfect score."

With that, Mike walked away.

Harvey couldn't help himself; he had to lean over and check Mike's score. Sure enough, it was one hundred percent. Seriously? How could the kid score a hundred when he was the worst at reading people just three hours ago?

Harvey's train of thought was suddenly disrupted by a sudden on-take of laughter. Looking over, Harvey saw the group of associates all in a semicircle by the door and looking down. At first, Harvey thought that they were all looking at some stupid picture, but then he watched Mike's head pop up. Shit.

Harvey started making his way over to the group, but wasn't fast enough to stop Mike from leaving the room. By the time Harvey made it past the group of associates and out the door, Mike had already made it halfway down the hall.

"Mike," Harvey called out.

Mike stopped and turned to face Harvey. The kid made no move to walk over to Harvey, but he didn't move farther away either, thus giving Harvey a chance to catch up.

"Mike," Harvey repeated, coming up to the kid. "What happened?"

Mike gave a look of complete confusion as he looked at his boss. "Huh?"

"What happened with the other associates?"

"What's wrong with the other associates?"

Harvey paused - not what he was expecting. But Mike looked legitimately concerned, so he answered, "Nothing's wrong with the associates."

"Then what's this about?"

"What?" Harvey was confused now.

"You're the one who asked."

"Asked what?" Harvey was completely lost. Why was he standing out here with Mike in the first place?

Harvey was just about to head back to the group when Jillian came walking by.

"Mike, what happened?"

Mike jerked himself around to face Jillian and that was when Harvey got a good look at Mike's arm. The entire time that they had been talking, Mike had been keeping his arms behind his back. Now that Mike's back was to Harvey, though, the man had a full view of them.

Mike was holding his right hand over his lower left arm and there was blood seeping out from all sides. Clearly, the other associates had done something when… Oh, the kid was good. "You almost had me."

Mike turned to his side when he seemed to realize that Harvey was still there. "What?" he asked, giving Harvey that look of utter confusion and innocence yet again.

Harvey couldn't help but feel slightly disconcerted as he started to realize just how good Mike was at this. Harvey himself had learned how to lie and read people over the years, but Mike just seemed to be able to do it as easily as breathing. "You almost got me to forget why I came out here."

"Why did you come out here?" Jillian asked, pausing in her attempts to get a look at Mike's arm.

"I've been trying to figure that out myself," Mike answered while slowly inching towards the wall.

Harvey rolled his eyes and grabbed hold of Mike's upper right arm, before yanking it out from behind his back, which allowed Jillian to force Mike's left arm out as well.

"What happened!?" Jillian demanded as she started dragging Mike towards the front of the building.

"Nothing happened," Mike insisted as he tried to dig his heels in.

As they rounded the corner, Cal was coming out of a doorway looking down at a file. "What happen… Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Mike insisted.

Jillian sighed. "What have I told you about that? You are not allowed to say that you're fine."

Harvey wanted to check Mike out for himself, make sure that the kid was OK, stop the bleeding and most likely take him to the hospital, but he seemed to have been forgotten as Cal and Jillian rushed Mike out of the building. Harvey was dying to take over, but it was clear that Mike was in good hands and so, instead, he started walking back towards everyone else as he pulled out his cellphone to call Jessica.

To say Jessica hadn't been happy to be called back to the Lightman Group just an hour and a half after having left was an understatement. The associates were currently making their way back to the firm where Louis was waiting to really lay into them. The partners and senior partners who had come had been placed with the employees they were to shadow and Harvey was currently standing with Jessica in the lobby, awaiting the return of Cal, Mike, and Jillian.

Three and a half hours after they'd left, the trio walked back in. Mike was standing between Cal and Jillian and he looked a little out of it. The kid had a plastic casing around his lower left arm, right where the bleeding had been, and was swaying a little. When he saw Harvey, he smiled slightly. "Hey, Harvey. You look perturbed."

"What?" was Harvey's intelligible response.

Mike rolled his eyes. "Perturbed - it means anxious or unsettled; upset. Hey, is Mrs. Pearson here to go over Cal's court appearance with him? It was hilarious! I recorded the whole thing. I'd show you but Cal took my phone." Mike frowned. "He said I can't have it back until next week. Harvey tell him he can't do that. I need my phone."

"Sorry, pain meds tend to make him a little out of it," Jillian apologized as she and Cal continued to guide Mike through the lobby and down the hall.

Jessica and Harvey followed the trio (really wasn't that hard with Mike rambling the whole way) down to what Harvey assumed was Cal's office. Once there, Cal turned to Mike. "Alright, why don't you just lie down and sleep this off?" he suggested as he started to gently guide Mike down onto the couch.

Mike immediately stood up, though. "No. I didn't work last night."

"What?" Cal questioned.

"I didn't work last night," Mike repeated.

"What does working last night have to do with lying down now?" Jillian enquired.

Mike sighed, "I only have to sleep on Harvey's couch if he learns that I've worked two nights in a row."

Three sets of eyes suddenly landed on Harvey – one of which was rather hard and accusing. "It's not healthy for someone to go two days without sleep, so I make the kid take a nap." Mike pulled a face at the phrasing. "I don't always catch him and he typically pitches a fit when I do."

"But I didn't work last night!" Mike insisted, "You can even ask my Mom."

Harvey stilled. When he had hired Mike, he had requisitioned an extremely thorough background check on the boy (privately, of course). One thing that the background check had revealed was that Mike and his parents had been in a car crash when Mike was twelve; the kid had been the only survivor.

Harvey swallowed. "Mike… your mother passed away when…"

Mike rolled his eyes. "I didn't say to ask my mother…"

"…If one could call an abusive, alcoholic, kleptomaniac, narcotics junkie a mother…" Cal muttered under his breath.

"…I said to ask my Mom."

"He did sleep last night," Jillian assured.

That's when at least one piece of the puzzle clicked for Harvey. Mike's biological parents were dead. However, it seemed that Jillian Foster had taken the role of Mom, which would help explain why Mike had shown up with her this morning. It also gave an explanation as to why Mike had been in her office that first time Harvey and Jessica had been here, how the woman seemed to know Mike and have some control over the boy, why Mike knew his way around the building so well.

It also led Harvey to the conclusion that Cal was playing the part of Dad. It would explain why Cal had dropped Mike and Emily off each morning for the past two weeks. It explained why Mike had been so comfortable in Cal's home.

There was still something bothering Harvey though. Jillian was clearly a Mom to Mike, she fit that role. Cal, however, wasn't exactly Dad. Mike had yet to call Jillian anything in Harvey's presence. In fact, the only time Harvey had heard Mike refer to Jillian in any capacity is when he called her Mom, but Mike had referred to Cal as just that – Cal. Mike had never called Cal 'Dad,' so it made Harvey wonder if that was how Mike actually saw the man.

Harvey was brought out of his musings with Mike's whining. It was a tell-tale sign Harvey had come to recognize as that of a tired Mike, and a tired Mike was one who would escalate to a tantrum if he wasn't stopped.

"Enough."

Mike's eyes were immediately on Harvey, fully recognizing the 'You're on thin ice' voice.

"Lie down," Harvey instructed.

"But I didn't work last night," Mike whined.

Harvey held in a sigh. "This isn't a debate. Lie down."

"But…"

"Now."

Harvey watched as Mike internally debated with himself. Mike knew the consequences of fighting Harvey on taking a nap and he knew that Harvey would carry through with it no matter where they were. Thus, thirty seconds later, a defeated and pouting Mike was laying down on the couch in Cal's office.

Jillian had then hurried to lay a blanket over Mike and put a pillow under his head, before ushering everyone else out and dimming the lights. As soon as the door was shut, she turned to Harvey. "Thank you."

"It was no problem," Harvey acquiesced.

"What happened?" Jillian asked as she and Cal led the way down to Jillian's office.

Jessica took the same seat as she had last time. "From what I've been able to deduce, it seems that a few of the associates had thought that it would be… funny… to play a prank on Mike and pushed him down. Mike then fell against a cabinet or sharp surface and scraped his arm."

"And why did they think it would be a good idea to play a 'prank' on him" Cal probed.

"There were a few… occurrences at the office the last couple of weeks and it seems that the associates blamed Mike for them," Jessica answered as diplomatically as possible.

Cal and Jillian shared a look, but it was Jillian who wearily inquired, "What did Mike do?"

"We don't actually know who was at fault…" Jessica started.

"What did he do?" Cal cut her off.

Noticing the hesitation Jessica had, Harvey decided to take over. "The rearrangement of desks, glue on keyboards, orange teeth, chairs falling apart, computer hacking and miniature rockets going off at random intervals."

"He set off pop rockets?!" Cal exclaimed. He then turned to Jillian. "And you insisted that I shouldn't question him as to why he needed the Alka-Seltzer."

"You didn't mention anything about film canisters," Jillian argued.

"I didn't know about the film canisters."

"He was with you. It was your job to watch him."

"I was trying to give him a bit of privacy."

"You were trying to suck up to him by letting things slide."

Harvey sat as the two kept arguing. He looked over at Jessica, hoping to either be dismissed or for her to interrupt and get them back on track, but she just looked a bit confused, so Harvey let her alone.

The good news was that Harvey now knew for certain that it was Mike that had pulled the pranks at the office. The bad news was that Harvey realized that he had absolutely no idea what Mike was capable of and clearly the kid had far too much unsupervised time on his hands. Harvey was honestly debating if he should be moving Mike into his office just to be sure that the kid didn't pull anything else.

Eventually Cal and Jillian stopped fighting, but not before Harvey had put together a few more pieces of the puzzle. The two of them had really gone at each other and Harvey had to wonder if they hadn't fought since Mike had come back. Harvey knew from experience that if you kept things bottled up then when you did start to fight, no matter how small, most of those things came up.

From what Harvey had learned, Mike had been hanging around Cal and Jillian for years, since before they had started the Lightman Group. Mike had actually helped them build the place and actually owned ten percent of it, though it was typically a silent ten percent since Mike was just a kid.

Harvey also learned that Mike's parents had apparently been abusive (this coming from Jillian insisting that they should have called child services after Mike had come over with a black eye, split lip, and a broken arm to which Cal had insisted that the kid would have taken off and they'd have never seen him again if they had).

It also seemed that Cal was the sole reason for the blow-up that had caused Mike to stop coming around. Apparently, Cal favoured Emily and he went off on Mike about something, though the two of them didn't delve too deeply into that part.

The reason that Mike was staying at Cal and Jillian's places was that his apartment building had been condemned a month and a half ago. They had been keeping Mike with them ever since. Mike would switch weeks; every even week was Cal's, every odd week was Jillian's.

By the time they were done, Harvey had a lot of questions answered and was feeling less confused and more concerned for his associate and the boy's apparent childhood.

Once Jessica realized that she once again had Cal and Jillian's attention, she continued with her apology, "I am sorry that Mike was injured. Pranks or not, this shouldn't have happened and I want you to know that the parties involved are being dealt with and will not be back."

"They will also be kept away from Mike," Harvey threw in.

"They better be," Cal snarked.

"They won't go near him," Jessica assured.

"Well. This has certainly been interesting. I propose that we all call it a day and regroup tomorrow," Jillian recommended.

"Without the associates," Cal added.

Jillian made an adjustment to that, "Aside from Mike. We still want him here."

"Of course," Jessica agreed.

Jessica and Harvey rounded up the rest of the Pearson Hardman employees and headed out the door and back to the firm. Harvey took one look back at the building before he pulled out. He didn't mind leaving, but he would rather have his associate with him and sleeping on _his _couch in _his_ office where he could keep an eye on Mike and Donna could mother the boy to death.

BSighing as he sat back, Harvey assured himself that Mike was in good hands and that he would be able to see the boy in the morning and check for himself.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

The next morning Harvey had checked Mike out for himself the second he got to the Lightman group – fully ignoring the glares he received from Cal as he did so. Mike had received ten stitches to his lower left arm.

The plastic cage had been put over Mike's stitches because the kid apparently had a record of popping his stitches multiple times. Harvey had grilled Mike relentlessly as to what had happened, as well as giving the kid a long lecture about the pranks he pulled at the office.

The two weeks that followed were… colorful. There were times when Harvey couldn't help but find it amazing how open and relaxed Mike seemed. Mike had grabbed Harvey's arm one morning as soon as he came through the door and dragged the man behind Cal who was holding a large egg. Mike dragged Harvey into a room with one of the top people in the local FBI branch and another man who had been the lead in developing a new hand-held polygraph test. Cal had thrust the egg into the developers hand opposed to shaking it and then run his own tests on the polygraph. Next thing Harvey knew there was egg yoke all over the floor and the developer wasn't looking too good.

Another day Mike had run – well, slid, because the kid had been running barefoot across the newly waxed floor. then sliding as soon as he got enough momentum – up to Harvey and dragged him into a research room. Normally, Harvey would say that he couldn't stand research, but this wasn't so bad. Loker and Tores had been running tests on how a uniform can alter someone's personalities. Tores had taken the men and Loker had taken the women. Naturally, Harvey and Mike had joined in on Loker's half of the study.

Harvey had been brought along on a case with Mike, Loker and Jillian. The case had involved a NASA test pilot and it had been extremely interesting to Harvey to watch Mike work with these people. Mike was amazing at reading people. Harvey also watched as Mike managed to make friends with over half the people at NASA in less than a day. By the end of the case, Mike had been allowed to test out a decent number of the training equipment and was on a first name bases with some of the highest ranking people in the place.

As happy Harvey was that Mike was comfortable at the Lightmangroup, there were also times when Harvey really questioned if it was the best place for Mike.

One afternoon – while Jillian was out - Harvey had walked into the men's restroom closest to Cal's office, only to find Mike kneeling in a pool of water under a sink trying to stop the flow coming from a burst pipe. Harvey still doesn't know how the kid had busted a hole in the middle of the pipe. It took another twenty-five minutes to find the off valve for the sink and then another hour plus to clean up the mess and replace the pipe. The thing that angered Harvey the most, though, was that Cal hadn't even cared. The man had just shrugged it off as though Mike had done nothing.

The next day Mike ended up setting off the fire sprinklers in the kitchen area. Then Mike hacked the computers and set them all so that they would bing every hour, interrupting whatever people were working on until they beat whatever game had popped up. Mike went wandering through the air vents for four hours one day. Mike played a 'game' with all the employees and somehow managed to get into the heads of everyone that he talked to and they ended up spending half the day searching for a lost dog named Peanut that had never existed in the first place. Harvey was truly concerned with this one, seeing as how Mike had not only managed to play over fifty people, but these people were the leading experts trained in the detection of lies and deceit. Everything that Mike did got zero reaction from Cal.

The last day of the two weeks Mike fried a circuit and sent half the building into darkness and he was unable to fix it before Jillian got back. Mike had then been dragged into Jillian's office and Harvey hadn't seen him for the rest of the day.

To say Harvey was glad it was the weekend would be an understatement. The two weeks at Lightmangroup were some of the best and worst that he's ever experienced. Harvey had come to learn that Jillian was wonderful with Mike and the kid was always open and happy around her. However, Harvey was becoming concerned with Mike being around Cal. The man did seem to care for Mike, but he wasn't healthy for the kid. Every time Cal and Mike were together, something went wrong. Still, starting Monday, Mike would be back at the firm full time and there would be no further interruptions.

Harvey had fully planned on spending his Saturday relaxing in his apartment. However, his plans were dashed when Jessica called him in at eight o'clock that morning.

"Harvey," Jessica greeted.

"Jessica."

The two took seats on the couch in Jessica's office. Harvey could tell that Jessica was tense and nervous (the two weeks at the Lightmangroup had paid off some) and he knew that the only reason Jessica would be so hesitant was because she wanted to discuss something that would upset Harvey.

Jessica sighed. This had to be done. "How was your experience at the Lightmangroup?"

Harvey shrugged, "I learned a few things, but it would have been better to just have a speech on it and move on."

"I'll keep that in mind for the rest of the firm."

They sat in silence for a few minutes, both fully aware of the real reason they were here and yet both wanting to avoid discussing the topic.

Eventually, Harvey got tired of the awkward silence. "So… Is that all you needed?"

"No," Jessica hesitated, "Harvey, we both know why we're here."

"Mike."

"Yes."

Harvey held his breath. "Is there a problem?"

Jessica stood up and started pacing in front of the couch as she spoke. "I was… displeased to learn that it was Mr. Ross who had pulled all of those - pranks in the office…"

"He only pulled pranks on those who had been rude or cruel to Emily or the other students," Harvey objected. Harvey had given Mike a chance to justify himself during the lecture.

"Still, they shouldn't have happened," Jessica held up her hand to stop any further interruptions. "However, considering the injury Mr. Ross sustained from his 'co-workers,' I will ignore the whole situation."

Harvey breathed a sigh of relief, but Jessica wasn't quite finished.

"Now, I have heard of the… activities that took place at the Lightmangroup over the last two weeks. However, they did not happen here, so I will ignore them as well. I do have some concerns, though."

"I won't let him pull anything like that here," Harvey was quick to assure.

"He already has pulled 'pranks' here."

"It won't be continuing."

Jessica quirked an eyebrow. "And just how are you planning to control that?"

"I will be keeping a closer eye on the kid."

"You better keep the kid on a tight leash, Harvey," Jessica warned.

"I will," Harvey promised. "Trust me, if Mike does anything, I will deal with him."

"See that you do," Jessica said, sitting back down on the couch.

"Now," Jessica started, reaching over to grab a file off of the coffee table. "After the… enlightening conversation that we were present for between Dr. Lightman and Dr. Foster, I took the time to do a more thorough background check into Mr. Ross' background."

Harvey held his breath. He knew that Mike didn't have a law degree and he was hoping that Jessica hadn't gone that deep. "And what did you find?"

"For starters, I learned that Mr. Ross never attended a law school," she sent a pointed look Harvey's way, "And yet he was able to pass the bar and receive a license to practice law. I suppose it helps to know just about every high-ranking official in the FBI and most of the branches of government. His job at the Lightmangroup has brought Mr. Ross into contact with a lot of important people in government and the boy seems to have been able to charm them all."

Harvey smirked; he didn't doubt this for a second after watching Mike run around NASA as though he owned the place by the end of a week.

"Normally, I wouldn't allow a kid without a degree to work here. However, since it's perfectly legal, I'll allow him to stay." Harvey took that as a victory, especially given the firm's only hire from Harvard policy.

"I also did some research into Mr. Ross' childhood." Jessica handed Harvey the folder she'd been holding. "Mr. Ross was in and out of the hospital for various broken bones, seven stab wounds, two burns and numerous concussions from the time he was two until the car crash when he was twelve." Jessica watched Harvey's expression as she spoke.

"After his parents died, his grandmother took him in and they lived in… a less than desirable part of town."

Harvey scoffed at that as he looked down at the address. It was literally the worst area in the entire city.

"Despite his upbringing, Mr. Ross seems to have become close with Dr. Lightman and Dr. Foster, although why two people who worked at the pentagon at the time ever crossed paths with a nine year old boy, let alone why they let Mr. Ross follow them around, it seems to have done the kid some good."

Jessica waited for Harvey to take everything that she'd just said in, before finishing what she had to say, "Lastly, I also learned Mr. Ross' age."

"His age?" Harvey questioned. Mike was 27; Mike had told Harvey he was 27. Well, Mike hadn't exactly told Harvey that, but Mike had to be, didn't he?

"Mr. Ross' birthday is in three weeks. He'll be turning 20."

Harvey froze. Jessica had to be joking. There was no way Harvey had hired a teenager, it just wasn't possible, and yet… Mike had looked so much younger these past two weeks; Harvey had just attributed it to Mike's clothing, though. Here at the office, Mike was always in suits and while he looked a little younger than the other associates, Harvey had chalked it up to the fact that the kid was just naive, or, well, playing naïve. At the Lightmangroup, Mike had been dressed in jeans, or shorts, and a t-shirt - that kind of a wardrobe always made people look younger, didn't it?

"Are you sure you have the age right?"

"Yes, Harvey. I even called Dr. Foster myself. She assured me that Mike really is 19."

Harvey leaned back into the couch. How had he missed this? And more importantly: How was he going to tell Donna?

The woman had said she didn't believe Mike was as old as he said he was, though she hadn't guessed this young. Harvey groaned. Donna was going to be unbearable.


End file.
